Early forecasts for 2007 suggest that there could be an even faster pace of growth of 6.5 percent this year, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Paul Acquah, has revealed. Last year, the country recorded a 6.2 percent growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in what he described as an environment of relatively subdued inflationary expectations and currency stability. Dr Acquah said this at the 14th Consultative Group Meeting of the country's development partners and the government to discuss how to support Ghana's growth agenda. The two-day meeting, which is also being attended by economic experts and civil society groups, is on the theme, "Human for Accelerated and Shared Growth". The revelation comes in the wake of negative predictions for the economy as a result of the present energy crisis which is virtually crippling many industries and raising the operational cost of companies. Dr Acquah said the bank foresaw the macro-economic outlook favourable and expected continued robust economic growth within a relatively low inflationary environment. He said in spite of the positive outlook and resilience in the economy, there still remained some risks, including that from "the supply side, as well as terms of trade, that could slow growth momentum". Dr Acquah said scaling up resources to support higher investment would play a significant role in the growth acceleration strategy to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and an emerging market economy status. "On outlook for inflation, the energy situation continues to pose some risks and policy focus is to ensure that the cost-price increases associated with it do not become embedded in inflationary expectations," he said. Figures from the Ghana Statistical Service put inflation presently at about 11 percent as of the end of May this year, up by .5 percent from April. But this is expected to ease slightly as a result of the food harvest expected from a favourable rainfall pattern this month. Dr Acquah said the monetary policy of the bank would continue to be committed to the single-digit goal, adding that "this calls for strengthened policy co-ordination to ensure that the focus is on total public external debt to sustain the macro-economic outcomes and ensure debt sustainability" . He said the Bank of Ghana's commitment was underlined by the formal adoption of an inflation targeting framework for monetary policy operations. "This is expected to help anchor inflationary expectations further over the medium term and to deliver on price stability and financial stability to complement the accelerated investment strategy of government," Dr Acquah said. The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, gave an overview of the economy and said "the focus of our economic policy is to deepen and consolidate the overall macroeconomic stability that has been achieved over the past six years. He stated "this is as reflected in rising GDP growth, declining inflationary trends, a low interest rate regime, stability of the cedi against the foreign currencies and the build up of our external reserves". The minister said the economy had remained resilient, even in the wake of the increased world crude oil prices and the energy crisis being experienced presently. Culled from Daily Graphic